First Week In 4th/5th Grade
Main Lesson: Long Division, Long Multiplication and Multi-Digit Operations with Ms. Elsa

September 15-17, 2026

We began each morning re-establishing the central tenets of our time together in Main Lesson: reverence, uprightness, and striving to bring our best selves forward. We practiced stepping into Main Lesson by shaking hands and speaking our verse and with each passing day it was wonderful to see how our fourth/fifth grade class is ready to step into their role as the oldest class at Mettabee while the Middle Schoolers are at the Austerlitz location! This year, they will serve as role models to the younger children who look up to them as examples. By the end of the week, it was powerful to witness how each of the 4th and 5th graders were able to work from a place of integrity in the classroom. 
 
Last week, the children were asked to share a story from their summer using descriptive details unique to their experience. We then worked on narrative writing compositions and then took turns reading out loud to the class. We heard many and varied summer stories while simultaneously working on our speaking and listening skills. The children were tasked with trying to remember as many nuanced details of each person’s story (i.e. “we stayed at campsite number 5”). We then worked on seeing how many details from each story we could recall in a memory game that we will conclude this upcoming week.

As we transitioned into the main lesson themed content for the week, we worked on “adding with missing numbers” (often called missing addends). This shift from simple counting is a bridge toward pre-algebra and analytical problem-solving and it lays the ground for the middle school math of the next years ahead. Instead of just calculating a result, students must think about the relationship between numbers. We also reviewed place value and set the foundation for our main lesson block in multi-digit operations.

Outside of the classroom, the children enjoyed playing “Planets” with the other children. I heard a lot of joyful story telling at the lunch table as many children felt back at home within their class community. 

This coming week, I look forward to continuing with our math main lesson content with review of the operations and place value.  

Warmly,
Ms. Elsa